Jon Meoli: With a win in his image, Orioles manager Craig Albernaz earns his beer shower

It’s a tradition around the game and with the Orioles that, when you achieve something for the first time, it comes with a postgame beer shower.

Craig Albernaz earned his Thursday.

The new skipper’s first win was, in many ways, no accident. An offense that didn’t show much battle last year stayed in the fight. The defense made plays behind starting pitcher Trevor Rogers when it mattered. And it just so happened that the first drill of the first full-squad workout Albernaz and his staff put together in spring training ended up delivering his first win as a manager in the first game of the regular season.

Everything Albernaz does is intentional. This time, it paid off.

“It’s a first — you have to celebrate a first,” first baseman Pete Alonso said. “You have to celebrate big moments, and for him to get his first win with this group, it’s really special. For him to have that as a manager, that’s really special.”

Rogers had posted seven zeroes on the scoreboard before the Orioles offense, which had been stymied by Twins ace Joe Ryan, finally broke through. There was rookie Samuel Basallo’s left-on-left single to open the bottom half of the inning, and then his first-to-third trundle on a Tyler O’Neill single that Albernaz said changed the game. That put Basallo in position to score on Colton Cowser’s sacrifice fly.

O’Neill was on second with two outs when Blaze Alexander’s spot in the lineup came up. He’d been overwhelmed by fastballs in his first two at-bats, and Albernaz said after the game he could tell Alexander was a little jumpy.

Albernaz could have gone to the bench for a left-handed hitter but instead gave Alexander a head nod and, according to Alexander, directed him to “go f-ing get him.”

It wasn’t just bluster; they prepared for spots like this. Alexander’s first hitting session in camp was simple. Runners on base, full count, two outs, one pitch.

He was grouped with Alonso, Gunnar Henderson and Ryan Mountcastle. Alexander kept taking ball four, and each time he did the group cheered progressively louder. In front of a buzzing crowd at Camden Yards on Thursday, he put his foot in the ground early, attacked a fastball on the inner half of the plate with two strikes and pushed across what became the game-winning run with a single.

“I don’t think guys do it enough, two-strike approach in batting practice,” Alexander said. “It’s always feel-good, seeing the ball leave the bat. Those situations when you’ve got to kind of dig down and do it for the guys in the dugout. It’s not just for yourself out there; it’s for the team, for your pitcher.”

For the boys, as Albernaz himself has said and certainly will again. That was his response when Tyler Wells came to his office after the game and asked, “How big of a vibes guy are you?”

Albernaz said: “‘I’m always down for the boys.’ Next thing I know, I’m thrown into the laundry cart, going into the shower, getting doused. It was a great time.”

Albernaz seemed to get a light version of the celebration. His predecessor, Brandon Hyde, ended up covered in condiments and whatever else the 2019 Orioles could find in the clubhouse dining room at Yankee Stadium after his first win.

It’s a rite of passage that brings the team together, no matter the circumstances. But in this one it came after a win in which the players already showed how connected they were, and how intentional everything on and off the field that has happened since last month facilitated that.

As Ryan was stymieing the Orioles’ offense, Albernaz said, the hitters “never wavered.”

“Everyone was still into the game,” he said. “Everyone was still talking, talking about their at-bats, what they’re seeing, what he’s going to throw them, and there was no waver from any of our guys — which is great to see."

He said before the game he wanted to introduce Orioles fans to a team that “is going to do everything they can to win that night, and win that game,” and there will be nights when it comes easier than it did Thursday.

For the rest, they’ll have to trust the foundation they built in spring training and understand that maybe if they simply keep their ranks tight then they can withstand the challenges.

That’s why it felt notable that Alexander clocked how happy the dugout was for him after his single. It’s what makes Alonso highlighting Coby Mayo’s standout showing at third base and Adley Rutschman’s “great buttons” calling pitches feel like more than lip service.

It takes a lot to win baseball games. No one in that clubhouse is ever going to take it for granted again. That’s why the club’s veteran additions preaching a connected clubhouse in which everyone plays for each other and chips in to the cause feels important as this season kicks off.

Yes, Albernaz wanted to be efficient with this group’s time in spring training, but he also wanted to focus on all the things it would take to win games. Alexander pointed to their “chaos” infield drills, with music blaring and challenging situations, as the type of practice that makes a difference.

“The game is hard, and if you train hard it can make the game easier,” he said.

That’s essentially Albernaz speaking through his 26-year-old utilityman, who started opening day only because of injuries to Jordan Westburg and Jackson Holliday. And, because of that mindset, the Orioles earned one of the 90 or so wins it will require to get back to the playoffs.

That’s why the new manager earned his beer shower.

“That’s just a great way to set the tone for the year,” right-hander Shane Baz said. “You can tell he just cares so much. He really does a good job running the ship.”

Banner reporter Andy Kostka contributed to this article.